New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has not only rolled out pay hikes for President, Vice President and members of parliament but also sought to change the law to give lawmakers an automatic hike.

Mr Jaitley said, "The law will provide automatic adjustment of emoluments every five years based on inflation," as he presented the Budget 2018 proposals in the Lok Sabha.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decided to include a salary hike for President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Governors and Members of Parliament is unusual because their salaries and allowances are governed by different laws.

According to revised emoluments, "President would go up from 1.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs, for the Vice President from 1.25 lakhs to 4 lakhs and for governors, from 1.1 lakhs to 3.5 lakhs." President Ram Nath Kovind has a lower take home salary than his key aides.

Mr Jaitley said, "There has been considerable public debate with regard to emoluments paid to Members of Parliament. The present practice allows the recipients to fix their own emoluments which invites criticism. I am, therefore, proposing necessary changes to refix the salary, constituency allowance, other expenses payable to Members of Parliament with effect from April 1, 2018."

There is no specification in the extent of the hike that lawmakers would get. But this change is a huge concession.

Members of Parliament are paid a monthly salary of Rs. 50,000, almost half of what the President gets.

India's first President's salary was ten times the salary of lawmakers and ministers, in 1951. This difference has narrowed down over the year.